Comment by jjulius
2 years ago
>They can't just air the same ads on the stream they do OTA...
>Replacing the ads in the stream with streaming friendly ads...
I'm ignorant and genuinely curious - why can't they just live stream what's being broadcast OTA with the same ads?
> with the same ads?
Not sure if it's still the case but the AFTRA union made that somewhat difficult for many years. The ad itself needs to be cleared for digital streaming and use electronic reporting if it uses union talent. When we carry "network" programming, some of the ads slots belong to the network, and some to the local station. We have no visibility on network ads, so we had to assume they were not clear, and could never be streamed.
This was an issue in radio, too.
There are a couple issues. One is rights. It might be prohibited by contract.
Also, there’s money left on the table. Server side inserted ad solutions are available and monetize better.
And OTA ads are often hyper-local, because you know exactly the area they can be seen.
There's zero utility in seeing an ad for Big Bill Hell's cars outside of the Baltimore metro area.